Suspicious Activity Reports on OFAC blocked transactions

Dear Board of Directors:

The purpose of this Regulatory Alert is to notify you of the December 2004 publication of interpretive guidance by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). This guidance clarifies when a suspicious activity report should be filed on a transaction that is blocked due to the SDN list published by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

As discussed in the guidance, a suspicious activity report should be filed if:

• the transaction would be reportable under FinCEN’s suspicious activity reporting rules even if there were no OFAC match;
• the financial institution is in possession of information not included on the blocking report filed with OFAC; or
• if a report has been filed with OFAC and the facts and circumstances surrounding the OFAC match are independently suspicious.

If you have questions, please contact FinCEN.